Lin Sheng-bin / 林盛彬

Cónsul de PPdM - Taipei

Lin Sheng-bin （b.1957）received his PhD in Spanish Literature from the University Complutense of Madrid and now is a professor at Tamkang University. His publications of poetry include The War (戰事), The Family Genealogy (家譜), The Wind blows from my deep heart (風從心的深處吹起), Contemplate and Meditate (觀與冥想), The blowing wind and the trembling heart (風動與心動) and others.

e-mail：lin.shengbin@gmail.com

        In Transit / 過境

The world is small in the waiting room of the airport

when the time board collects

the cities from various corners

and people weave in front of my eyes

the pattern of foreign colors of hair and skin

may be we’ll board the same plane

then at some point like protruding branches

we’ll stretch out toward our own skies

but please don’t forget

we all spring from the great trunk of the earth

While we board our plane

they might be loading missiles and supplies

when we chatter

to shorten the distance between two foreign minds

there might be numerous fighter bombers waiting to soar

to transport the most beautiful and youthful

firewood to be burned in the darkest

slaughterhouse, the last terrified heartbeats

Maybe it’s more proper to keep our silence

maybe the next time we meet

we will have another closer yet longer confrontation

trying our best to let each other’s boiling blood

re-evaluate the weight and structure of humanity

At this moment we are waiting at the airport

to fly over the not-long yet not-short life

we share much of the same fate

so please give me some joyful talk

and lift the card from the long-covered face

before we reach the next parting

we’d better fill up the uncrossable swamp

which is all around our hearts

                        (Translated by William Marr)

        The Beginning of Spring / 立春

I know you will not easily let it go

Like a wild goose sailing on a distant journey

Never to return

I know you are in distress

But you bear it quietly

Here, your veins take root

Their tentacles holding every inch of the land tight

Whether fertile or barren

In weather fair or foul

Things do not always turn out as one wishes

Yet hope remains the best fertilizer for the soul

Perhaps you too have thought of moving elsewhere

Yet you are deeply attached

Attached to what belonged to our ancestors

What now belongs to us

What in the future will still belong to our descendants－

The land

This land

Where our ancestors have tilled, have suffered and have spent lonely years

Have taught you to quietly bear all the miseries

Awaiting that moment when this once barren, war-stricken and weather-beaten

Place will turn into a haven of peace and beauty

Awaiting, perhaps in vain, despite a lifelong devotion

The arrival of

Spring

Yet when seeds are sown

Hope will germinate in the heart

Even if spring comes not

The sprouts of spring have to be transplanted with blood and sweat

Now that Great Cold is over and insects are waking

Oh! Orphans of Asia

We must rise before the Earth does

And with our thickly calloused hands

Sprinkle the seeds

Upon our eternal haven

(translated by Lisa Lai-ming WONG黃麗明)

        The book of genealogy / 家譜

Suddenly,

A breath of wind caresses

The covor of the book

Lifting it gently

Catching my attention

I look at it.

On the front page,

I see my name

Not prominent

Like sand, dust or nothing.

I browse through the book

A profusion of words

Spreading before me

Having no beginning

No ending

On pages without numbers.

I search carefully

And find only prehistoric names

Peking man, Neanderthal man, Cro-Magnon …..

I retreat thru the pages,

Looking in vain,

Still searching

The heavy book

One word is meaningful

Homesickness.

         (Translated by Charles Shuttleworth, MBE and Tu Tung-Men)